Puerto Rico Drops Marijuana for Public Employee Drug Tests

Puerto Rico government agencies will not screen for marijuana on employee drug tests following an executive order by Gov. Alejandro Garcia Padilla.

Applicants seeking public employment will continue to face screening for some drugs.

The order targets agencies where current employees are screened for illegal substance use at the discretion of agency directors. The order was signed Nov. 19 but announced Saturday.

In a Saturday statement, the Office of the Governor says the move is part of a broader push by the current administration to decriminalize personal marijuana use and possession.

The governor last year changed Health Department rules to authorize the medical use of marijuana derivatives. Another 2015 order established that prosecution of marijuana possession would be given the lowest priority by his administration.